70 members of Congress are also members of the Socialist Party Caucus. Two are from Texas– Sheila Jackson Lee and Eddie Bernice Johnson. Eleven members of the 23 members of the Judiciary Committee in Congress are members of the Socialist Party.

WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT THE MOSQUE

American citizens are protesting the building of a one million dollar mosque to be built near the site where the twin towers were destroyed. There are 100 mosques in New York City. According to the World Book Encyclopedia, when Moslems conquered an area, they would convert churches into mosques. The mosque in New York City would be named House of Cordoba. Cordoba was a city in Spain where the Moslems built a mosque after conquering that part of Spain in 711. According to Wikipedia Encyclopedia, “It is claimed by some that the name Cordoba continues to represent a symbol of Islamic conquest to many faithful Moslems.”

On a side note, a Greek Orthodox Church was the only church destroyed when one of the Towers fell. The New York Port Authority scrape the area clean without the churches approval. Plans were to trade that land for another location plus $20 million, but nine years later nothing has happened.

League of Women Voters Meet & Greet

Who: All Candidates, who will appear on a ballot in Harris County including candidates for federal, state, and county offices, are invited to participate.

What: A large scale voter service event including town hall meetings, the candidate meet and greet, and two televised debates. The League expects 2,000+ voters.

Where: The George R. Brown Convention Center in the Third Floor Ballroom

When: September 18, 2010 from 3pm-5:30pm

Why: The League of Women Voters works to encourage the active and informed participation of citizens in government .

How: Each candidate will have a table that he/she can personalize with campaign literature, yard signs, etc.

ARCOLA & FRESNO VOTERS

The outcome of the November election for voters in Arcola and Fresno will be interesting. Republican Pete Olson is running for his second term as representative for Congress. Steve Susman is running on the Libertarian ticket. Kesha Rogers, a young black woman won the Democratic primary with the slogan save NASA and impeach Obama.

IfShe Goes To Congress Kesha Rogers Wants to

Bankruptcy Reorganization - The system is bankrupt and there is no solution or recovery under the current polices. Obama is allowing the Federal Reserve to print countless trillions to bail out Wall Street, which will cause hyperinflation. We must end the bailouts and speculation, and restore Franklin Roosevelt’s 1933 banking law, the Glass-Steagall Act, to restore a firewall of protection, separating our commercial banks and peoples’ savings from looting by investment firms. Launch a new Pecora Commission to investigate the criminal fraud of the bailout, and causes of the financial meltdown.

NAWAPA-(North American Water and Power Alliance)- On the other side of Obama’s resignation are the engineering blue prints to physically rebuild today's bankrupt economy, starting immediately with NAWAPA’s 3 million productive jobs. This project will develop a continental power and irrigation system, channeling run off water from the coast of Alaska, over the Rocky Mountains, to green the deserts, and vastly increase the water supply of the USA. NAWAPA will restore a productive mission for the nation, laying the basis for further projects. For an interactive 3D map of the project, visit www.larouchepac.com/nawapaSpace Exploration - We must save NASA by putting it to work on a science driver mission to colonize the Moon and Mars within 2-3 generations. Doing this will generate major breakthroughs in all areas of science and technology, and provide a sense of cultural optimism for our young people, and a purpose and direction for the future.

Steve was born in Ho Chi Minh Viet Nam. His grandfatherspent his fortune to get his family to freedom. In 1979, when Steve was seven years old, he and his sister, their parents, and grandparents were able to go to Utah together. His dad made them speak English in the home. At the age of 12, his family received their citizenship and Dad informed his son that his name was changed to Steve.

After Steve finished high school, he decided he needed more discipline in his life so he joined the army—the 82nd Airborne as Desert Storm was winding down. Stationed in NC he did fun things like jump out of airplanes. After three years of Army life and two years of college Steve worked with his dad selling computers and parts and learned by experience to bea computer tech analyst. And then one day…

An old family friend John Vuong went to Utah for a visit. John had a younger sister who was still in Viet Nam.

Would Steve be interested in going to Viet Nam and meeting her? Steve was interested. He spent about a month visiting and the meeting turned into a commitment. A year and many emails later, Thuy (pronounced Twee) arrived in Utah. Three weeks later in July 2001, they were married. Thuy loved Utah and Oregon where they visited relatives, John asked his new brother-in-law if he would work at a store he had acquired in Almeda Texas. Steve agreed.

Their were times when he almost wished he had not. Thuy would beg him to quit and go back to Utah or Oregon. She loved the beauty of the mountains. She didn’t like being in a social setting where nobody could understand her.

They both learned the grocery business from scratch with John Vuong helping that first year. He told them to learn whatever they could on their own. After one year they had learned the basics and Steve was promoted to manager. Thuy was right by his side taking on some of the responsibilities. They struggled for another two years with the attitude of making the best of their situation. Thuy says, “I love it all now.”

Steve enjoys the opportunity to be creative and the challenge of being competitive in prices with super stores especially in the meat department. He also takes pride in the quick service they provide their customers. He and Thuy are team mates. She opens at 7am and Steve closes at ten. Long hours but they reserve one day a week for themselves. Hopefully, their hard work will result in owning their own store, but they have both come to really care about Pyburn’s. To Steve it has a quality that other stores don’t have because of its long history.

Pyburn’s does have a history that dates way back before most of the people who are alive today. In 1939 George Pyburn bought a small grocery store from Jim Park which Jim opened up for business in 1922. Uncle Jim sat behind a glass candy case. He would give a penny peppermint stick to the kids if their parents couldn’t afford to buy any. When the parents paid their bill at the end of the month he would hand over a whole bag of candy. In the north east corner of the store were several bales of hay for sale and served as a comfy place to sit.

Jim’s son, Lewis would drive into Houston everyday, except Sunday, and buy unwrapped bread. The bread box was in front of the store. If someone wanted a loaf after store hours, they helped themselves and left their money on top of the box.

By the time George Pyburn bought the store, bread was delivered and in a bread wrapper. Some things remained the same. A customer would tell the clerk what they wanted and the clerk would get the items and put them on a wooden counter, except for the bananas which hung on a banana stalk where people cut off what they wanted. The clerk wrote down each item, added it up, kept one copy and gave the other to the customer. Later George leased the store to Allen Kaufhold who couldn’t collect enough of the money due him, to stay in business. George did away with the old wooden building, built the present one and leased it to a stranger to Almeda. This man wanted cash or a check. No more “Charge it”. That made it a little easier for George’s son, Gary, who stepped up to the job in 1955.

Steve and Thuy are now adding their own part to history to one of the oldest businesses in Almeda.

CORRECTION

City Manger Farland’s first name is George not Georg. Thank you Sally.

Answer to last month’s quiz.

The 22nd and the 24th president of the United States had the same mother and the same father because it was the same man, Grover Cleveland.

Here is another quiz.

How can you plant five rows of trees with four in each row and you only have ten trees? It is possible. Call Our News if you can figure it out.

THANK YOU

Rich Martini for providing a dumpster, filling it with tree limbs, and hauling them away from the Almeda Cemetery. He did a great job and something Ken Moore who keeps the cemetery looking like a park couldn’t do. Thank you Rich and Ken.

Never Too Late to Appreciate

Yvonne Thompson sent this in which her Spanish friend wrote: O what a night.

O what a night it really was (goes the old song). Some of my friends and family teared up. We get very emotional looking at fire works on the 4th of July. We all the time think about what it is to be an American. Two of my grandsons arrived here from Austin for the affair. And did they have a blast! I read last year that Mayor Anderson did not get any volunteers so she canceled the affair. From now on she will not have to give it a second thought to get help. My family and friends are more than willing and happy to be of service to any and all wherever we are needed. Mayor Anderson envisions Arcola as a clean , beautiful and knowledgeable place to live. She knows what Arcola needs.

NOTE FROM PENNSYLVANIA

Robert Brown’s daughter sent a note that her “Dad broke his hip in May, contracted Mrsaafter replacement surgery, and is now waiting for a new hip replacement in a hospital. If all goes well, he’ll be home in Oct. He left Almeda ten years ago and still enjoys reading Our News.”

832-393-2120Learn Spanish Monday 11 am.– 1pm. No cost, no requirements. Verna G. attends the Spanish classes taught by Eric Wilbourn, because “I need to learn more. I go to a church where many speak Spanish. If I can just learn one word a day, I’ll keep looking up.” Cottrell, a man who loves to be outdoors just wants something to do. Bobbie Lee says, “I was surprised at how much I enjoy the class. It is relaxing. I appreciate the handouts and love the interaction.” Come when you can andenjoy the leadership of a great teacher in a small group setting.

Almeda Moe

New York scientists dug down ten feet and found traces of copper wire and came to the conclusion, that their ancestors had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

A few weeks later a California archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and a story in the "LA Times" read: 'California archaeologists, find traces of 200 year old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors had an advanced high-tech communications network a 100 years earlier than New York. When Moe read this news he got his brother, Junior and they dug a hole 30 feet deep with Junior’s drilling rig. They found absolutely nothing. Therefore, Moe and Junior concluded that 300 years ago Texas had already gone wireless.

Just makes you proud to be from Texas

ALERT

You might wonder why Linda W. keeps one foot on her grocery cart as she pays her bill at the grocery store. On two different occasions as she was writing out a check, a man nonchalantly rolled her cart full of groceries away. She was shocked when she turned to get her groceries and they were gone. Luckily she did spot thethief before he got away. She keeps alert by resting her foot on the cart.

Condolences

ROBERT LEE CHILO, SR. born September 3, 1928 passed away June 9, 2010. A director at Forest Park Lawndale, after 35 years of service he retired about ten years ago. For the last 14 years he was an usher at St. Philips Neri Church. He is survived by his wife of ten years, Barbara Chilo (of Barbara’s Hair Saloon), a son Robert Chilo Jr. daughters Billie Chilo, Tara and Diandar Coleman.

ROGER HOHENSTEIN, 63, born April 6, 1947 passed away August 2, 2010. Roger was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. While living in Almeda, Roger attended special Education at Peck Elementary , then went to the Opportunity Center and Sheltered Workshop until he was 21. He always lived at home and participated in all family activities. His life brought unconditional love, pure joy, and unbelievable humor to his family and friends. He loved traveling,, movies and eating out. His biggest disappointment-he never learned to read. Preceded in death by his father, Joseph, he is survived by his mother, Margaret, sister, Peggy; brother, Greg; one nephew James and niece, Jennifer.

RUTH BROUSSARD, 77, long time resident of Arcolapassed away August 23, 2010. Ruth worked at several hospitals, retiring from Ben Taub after 20 years. She and her husband, Claude, were national political activists attending the inauguration of Pres. Johnson Preceded in death by Claude, Ruth is survived by two daughters, Mary Laurance Broussard-Dunn and Vanessa Broussard-Rosen; and two grandchildren John and Rosalind Dunn. Ruth will be buried next to Claude. Graveside services will be held in the family grave yard at 6110 Broussard Lane September 4th at 11 am. Ruth requested, instead of flowers, potted fruit trees be given in her honor and planted in the graveyard. .

DISTRICT 9 CANDIDATE STEVE MUELLER

Mueller was the only one from Dist 9 to respond as to question of what bills he would sponsor.

#1. A bill that would allow the 22 word prayer "outlawed" by the Supreme Court decision of Engle v. Vitale in 1962 to be said again in schools. The prayer is: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we Beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country."

2. A bill to eliminate pensions for members of Congress.

3. A bill to allow taxpayers to self-direct up to 10% of their tax obligation for any charitable purpose they see fit that feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, shelters the homeless, or cares for the sick or imprisoned.

4. A budget bill that will quickly fund all Constitutional items. All non-Constitutional items (more than 1/2 of the federal budget!) need to have a defunding plan established and started. It will take many years to wean ourselves from several of these programs.

ONE QUESTION

If you could ask God one question what would it be? In a survey taken most people would ask God, “Why do you let bad things happen?”

Before we asked our one question it might be a good idea to think about who God is. The Bible teaches us that God sees everything. Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. God is omnipresence meaning present all the time and in all places. Jeremiah 23:24

God is omniscience. He knows everything– past, present, future. I John 3:20 -God “knows all things”. Ps. 147: 4&5—He names the stars. When Job suffered more than any of us are ever likely to experience, he wanted an answer from God. Chapter 37 in the book of Job, God answered Job with questions like “where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth”?

God is also omnipotent. He is all powerful. Jeremiah 32:17 says there is nothing too hard for God. Matthew 19:26 says “All things are possible with God.”Because He is all powerful, He is sovereign and rules over all. Ps. 103:19. In Isaiah 64:8 it says, “But now O Lord we are the clay and You are the Potter. We are all the work of your hand.” Yet God has given men free choice to do evil or good. Even though everyone of us has made choices against His will, He loves us with a love beyond our understanding and proved it by allowing His Son to die on the cross as our substitute for our wrong choices. John 3:16.

Considering God is always present, knows everything, has thepower to do whatever He wants, and loves us more than any of us are capable of loving, maybe we should not question why God runs his world the way He does. Maybe there is a little more to life than we can understand right now. Instead of why, maybe our one question should be what. What Lord God, do you want me to do?

I REMEMBER WHEN

I remember when they had put a two lane concrete road between Almeda Road and Post Oak. They called it Fuqua. I had just finished my first year at college. I was now extremely smart although not particularly intelligent. The year was 1953. My dad had just bought a really nice, almost brand new, Mercury. I got the brilliant idea of seeing if that car could go 100 miles per hour. I started about where Hiram Clarke is now and proceeded to head toward Almeda Road. I had both lanes all to myself. In no time I was rocking and rolling along at 96 miles an hour. Actually the car was sort of wobbling. I had developed my driving skills on a tractor. I was sooo close to a 100, but in the distance I could see a car coming toward me. At least what little common sense I had overruled my extreme smart and I took my foot off of the gas. I don’t know how fast I was going when I met the oncoming car but I could see the driver’s eyes were as big as saucers. Of course the driver, Mary Beth High’s mom, knew my folks so I figured I better tell my parents before she did. From then on I had a choice of tractor, horse, bicycle or walking.

Do you have a Short I Remember Story? Email it to siskeyworth@att.net or mail to P. O. Box 450336 Houston 77245.

But whoso has this world’s good and sees his brother have need, and shuts up his heart from him, how dwells the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

To contact Emmaline about her poetry call 713-434-0664

BACK YONDER IN ALMEDA

Historical facts and stories of the early years of a small town far from the city limits of Houston. Call 713-433-1098 for more info. This book is available at Debbie’s Barber Shop 14000 bl. of Almeda Rd for $12. To have a copy mailed to you Or send $14 to Our NewsP.O. Box 450336 Houston, TX 77245

Stated in 1931

“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.” Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931

Uncle Sam says, “We got what it takes to get what you got.”

Texas Transportation Commission Approves

$76 million in funding for 54 transportation-related enhancement projects. The East region of the state including Beaumont , Bryan , Houston , and Lufkin received $19 million. Sugar Land receives $1,873,286 for their US 59 Pedestrian and Bike Improvement Project and Richmond / Rosenberg $1,284,085 for the US 59 / FM 762 Landscaping project.

The federally-funded programwill cover the 44 acres of land within the TxDOT right-of-way and the West Fort Bend Management District. The property is within Richmond 's ETJ.

Fresno Volunteer Fire Department

9/11B B Q

SaturdaySeptember 11th from 11am to 3pm the volunteers of the FVFDwill serve BBQ to raise funds to provide the citizens fire protection. It will be at the fire station at 4525 FM 521

SAFTY TIP

If you are driving at night and eggs are thrown at your windshield, DO NOT operate the wiper or spray any water. When eggs are mixed with water they become milky and will block your vision up to 92% and then you will be forced to stop. If you do stop have your gun ready as a gang of thieves may likely be on the way.

WASHINGTON D. C.

Rodrico Carreon goes to Washington. He boarded a bus July 26th and rode for 24 hours in time to join 300 to 400 others in Washington D. C. to protest the AZ bill. Although he hasn’t read the bill, he feels like it is not really a bad law but it might lead to profiling. His homemade sign, “Legal or not we all pay taxes” got the attention of local TV and radio stations. For Carreon, it was quite an opportunity. The bus trip and two nights at a hotel cost $200. He had never been east of Texas before. They took a different route back home so he got to see a lot of country. Rodrico would love to attend all the meetings in Congress.

About Me

I was born in Almeda where my grandparents and some great grandparents settled. I started writing a history of the area for the South Post Oak Press and then decided I could write my own paper in 1994 after I had written a book, Back Yonder In Almeda. Then my son, James fixed me up with a blog so I could put Our News on the web.
Our News now reaches down to Fresno and Arcola.